“…In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see, there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power, and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”

The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home….”

Anyone in their right mind knew when Obama was elected, NASA was in for some rough times. It is worse – our worst nightmare.

“…“I can guarantee you that there will be debate as to whether NASA needs to have astronauts,” he said. “I can just see it coming in the United States, you know. I wish it were not going to come up, but it will come up: ‘You don’t have a space shuttle, you’re not flying a vehicle, so why do you need astronauts?’ I get asked those kinds of questions all the time.”…” Chuck Bolden.

We could be looking at the beginning of the end of America’s space efforts and human space flight – America style. Of all the vile and reprehensible things the Obama Administration has proposed, this is the worst. If anything proves the man does not give a damn about our future, this does.

A decade ago one, on January 14, 2000, I experienced one of the worst moments of my life. Not only did the person I planned to marry do everything he could to hurt me, in the process he destroyed my sense of well-being and who I am.

January is a rough month. It seems to me that bad things just plain old happen in January. Wyatt Earp died in January – 1929. The space shuttle Challenger exploded in January – 1986. The Apollo 1 fire killed 3 astronauts – 1967. The space shuttle Columbia broke up in re-entry (okay it was February 1) – 2003. The worst baseball trades happen in January. It is cold. You have all those bills to pay. And life is generally miserable.

January, 2000 brought one of the worst experiences of my life. It also brought one of the most remarkable and spiritually awakening moments of my life. I learned the power of praise when the big things in life are bad.

The ultimate photography experience would be the opportunity to take the photograph of an erupting volcano from space!

“…Astronaut photograph ISS020-E-9048 was acquired on June 12, 2009, with a Nikon D2XS digital camera fitted with a 400 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 20 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, NASA-JSC….”

Newt is looking extremely presidential! (That’s my mother talking. Of course it could be the Vicodin and a few other pain killers. She fell and broke her left elbow this morning). Of course I agree with her!

I just have the re-occuring fantasy of Newt as POTUS, a GOP House and Senate, appointing Mark Levin to the SCOTUS.

We have a little problem.

With apologies to Thomas Paine, these are times that try a rational individual’s patience!

Once again the Dems are in the process of screwing NASA. They have a bad habit of doing this. Right now we’re being told it costs way too much money, etc. but they are willing to throw cash for klunkers to the wind, etc. We’re dealing with a bunch of liberals who don’t give a rip about our actual future, only their own power.

Douglas MacKinnon penned an Op Ed for the Washington Examiner:

“…Enjoy the last few flights of our Space Shuttle fleet. After it’s mothballed late next year, our nation, to the collective shame of our politicians, will have no U.S. capability to get our astronauts into space for quite possibly a decade or more to come. Why? Because President Obama and most Members of Congress don’t consider our human spaceflight program to be a tangible vote-getter. As simple and as destructive as that. During the presidential campaign in 2007, then-Senator Obama said he planned to pay for his $18 billion education plan by taking it out of the hide of NASA. In defending his desire to delay the Orion and Ares programs (the next generation crew spacecraft and rockets scheduled to succeed the space shuttle), he stressed, “We’re not going to have the engineers and scientists to continue space exploration if we don’t have kids who are able to read, write and compute.”…As we have all witnessed these last few months, in order to please various special interest groups, President Obama and Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, are anxious to spend (and waste) hundreds of billions of our money. Shockingly, from that obscene amount, they can’t find a tiny percentage to increase the knowledge, security, and commerce that would surely come our way as a direct result of continued U.S. preeminence in space. Too bad, because rather than continue in first place, the U.S. will eventually be last in space….”

“…Dreams of establishing a manned Moon base could become reality within two decades after India’s first lunar mission found evidence of large quantities of water on its surface….”

Forget that, not if the base is to be built by the US. Now that we are living in the Age of Obama, and the Dems have absolute power, we’re going to be lucky if someone can launch a pea-shooter into low earth orbit. There will be no space, no science, only endless hand-outs and welfare to a group of people who will destroy our future.

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SJ Reidhead (aka The Pink Flamingo) is a writer based in New Mexico. The author of two published novels, both westerns: Dust Devil and The Second Mrs. Earp and two published works of non-fictions: TRAVESTY: Frank Waters Earp Agenda Exposed and A Church for Helldorado, Endicott Peabody's 1882 Tombstone Diary. One of the leading authorities on the life of Wyatt Earp and Tombstone during the Earp years, she is currently writing a series of murder mysteries set in modern day Tombstone. The author is also working on a book about fashion in the Wild West. When complete, there will be over 2100 unpublished antique photographs dating from 1855-1910.

The author's work has appeared in Wild West, True West, Blogcritics, and The Tombstone Times. Recently the author has had to deal with a father who succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease. This is leading to a book dealing with the frustrations of dealing with the frustrations of the disease, finance, legal, health-care, and things no one bothers telling families about it. She is currently working on a murder mystery series set in modern day Tombstone and Cochise County. Several books of essays on Christian living are currently in edits. A book of essays and revisions of articles about Wyatt Earp has been completed and will include her latest work detailing her theory about the murder of his second wife, Mattie.

SJ Reidhead has been involved in Republican politics since she was 'a little kid'. During the Reagan years she was a lobbyist working with various non-profit organizations who were attempting to salvage NASA and the American space program after the disastrous Carter years. In spite of ups and downs, and numerous disappointments, politically, it is obvious the only political hope for this country is via the Republican Party. Along with politics she is an opera fanatic, has been known to stalk baritones to the point of being a baritone junkie, and loves baseball.

The Pink Flamingo went on line on October 4, 2005.

THE PINK FLAMINGO STORY

It started out as a joke. During the seven years I worked with the girls of my parish, leading a youth group, one of the things that I stressed were manners. Part of having manners, the way I see it, is to know how to set a proper table, host a party, cater it, and clean up afterward. I was fortunate enough to have a group of very talented girls in my youth group. They learned how to plan for, and execute large church functions, very properly. During one such function I noticed there were several incredibly tacky pink flamingos sitting on the table. Knowing the girls were up to something, I said nothing. A few months later they did the same thing at a function I was hosting at my home. I said nothing. They had a birthday party for me. More pink flamingos appeared - and a joke was born.

Thanks to the girls, all of whom are now grown, I have a collection of pink flamingos. It has become an ongoing joke. When I began working on my political blog, I realized the only possibly title was The Pink Flamingo!